Inking apparatus for flat bed printing press



5 Sheets-Sheet 1 E. E. CLINE ETAL Dec. 17, 1963 INKING APPARATUS RoR FLAT BED PRINTING PRESS Filed Nov. 15, 1961 INKING APPARATUS FOR FLAT BED PRINTING PRESS Filed Nov. 15; 1961 Dec. 17, 1963 E. E. CLINE ETAL y 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 LSIIIIII lf:

l I l I I I l l I Illn-I' Dec. 17, 1963 E. E. CLINE ETAL 3,114,314

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INKING APPARATUS FOR FLAT BED PRINTING PRESS Filed NOV. 13, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIE United States Patent O 3,114,314 I INKING APPARATUS FOR FLAT BED PRINTING PRESS Ernest E. Cline, Crawfordsville, Ind., and' Thomas E.

Griner, Long Beach, Calif., assignors to R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 151,690 17 Claims. (Cl. 101 321) This invention relates to inking apparatus for a printing press, and in particular, it relates to inking apparatus for a press in which a vertically reciprocable stamping head prints an impression upon an article such as a book cover which is supported on a flat bed beneath the stamping head.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a satisfactory high speed inking system for a press of the type heretofore described.

Another object of the invention is to provide an inking device in which an ink trough provided with one or more inking rollers is reciprocated beneath a stamping head, so that a plate providing a printing surface on the lower end of the stamping head is inked on each pass of the inking device beneath the stamping head.

Another object of the invention is to provide an` inking apparatus in which the rollers are positively rotated during movement of the inking trough in each direction, with the direction of rotation of the rollers being reversed for the two directions of travel of the ink trough.

Still another object of the invention is to provide inking apparatus in which doctor blades bear on the inking roller to doctor the roller surface ahead of the stamping head in either direction of rotation of the rollers.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an inking apparatus in which the ink trough is covered to reduce solvent evaporation from the ink when thevtrough is at either end of its reciprocatory travel.

The invention is illustrated Vin a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a plan view of inking apparatus embodying the invention with the ink trough covers removed and parts of the chains for reciprocating the ink trough broken away, the ink trough being illustrated in full lines at one station and in broken lines at the other station;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the inking apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section on an enlarged scale taken substantially asillustrated along the line 3 3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken substantially as illustrated along the line 4 4 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section taken substantially as illustrated along the line 5 5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a section taken substantially as illustrated along the line 6 6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a section taken substantially as illustrated along the line 7 7 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a section on a reduced scale taken substantially as illustrated along the line 8 8 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a section on the same scale as FIG. 8 taken substantially as illustrated along the line 9 9 of FIG. 3; and

FIGS..10, l1 and 12 are generally schematic views of the apparatus with the ink trough positioned, respectively, at a first station, in an inking position, and at a second station with the stamping head in a printing position.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and referring first to FIGS. 10, 11 and 12, a printing press is provided with a dat bed B on which a device to be printed, such as a book cover C is supported. A stamping head S has a printing plate P secured to its lower end to provide a printing surface, and the stamping head is vertically reciprocable to print an impression upon the article C by reason of the fact that it is mounted on the lower end of the piston rod R of a hydraulic cyclinder H.

The subject matter of the present invention is inking apparatus, indicated generally at 15, which includes an ink trough, indicated generally at 16, that is reciprocated on a track 17 by means of driving mechanism, indicated generally at 18, between a first station S-1 and a second station S-2 which flank the path of vertical reciprocation of the stamping head S. Thus, an ink trough 16 recipro- Cates from station S-1 to station S-Z, and back again, it passes in opposite directions beneath stamping head S, and on each pass a set of inking rollers, indicated generally at 19, rolls in contact with plate P on the lower end of stamping head S so as to apply ink to the plate. A printing operation is performed after each pass of ink trough 16 beneath stamping head S.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, press bed B is supported on a plurality of legs 20, and supporting brackets 21 and 22, adjacent opposite ends of the bed provide supports for longitudinal side rails 23 which are slotted at 24 to provide trackways having replaceable wear plates 25 on which the ink trough 16 is supported for its horizontal reciprocation between the stations S-1 and S-Z.

The means 18 for reciprocating the ink trough 16 includes an electric motor 26 which is mounted on a bracket 2'7 and coupled through a suitable commercially available combined clutch and brake unit 28 to an output drive sprocket 29 which is operatively connected by a roller chain 30 to a sprocket 31 on a drive shaft 32 which is journaled in the side rails 23. A pair of output sprockets 33 adjacent the ends of the shaft 32 are positioned immediately inside the side rails 23. Idler sprockets 34 are journaled on a cross shaft 35 in line with the drive sprockets 33 at the left hand ends of side rails 23; while a pair of brackets 36 which extend upwardly from each of the side rails 23 carry stub shafts for guide sprockets 37. A pair of roller chains 38 each have opposite ends 39 and 40 secured to suitablebrackets 41 and 42, respectively, on the underside of ink trough 16, and the chains are trained around the output sprockets 33, over the guide sprockets 37, and around the idler sprockets 34. Reciprocation of ink trough 16 is controlled by any suitable mechanism in timed relationship with vertical reciprocation of stamping head S by driving reversing motor 26 in opposite directions as required. Numerous means for accomplishing su'ch timed reversals of drive of an electric motor are well known to the art, and thus are not described in detail here.

Turning now particularly to FIGURES 3 to 8, inclusive, ink trough 16 includes a base frame, indicated generally at 43, having a pair of cross members 44 at its two ends which are joined by longitudinal stringers 45 welded to the cross members. At opposite ends of each cross member 44 are upright bosses 46 which are tapped to receive threaded studs 47 of supporting rollers 48 by means of which the base frame 43 is carried in the slots 24 of the side rails 23. Secured to ink trough base frame 43 are a bottom plate 49, pair of upright side plates 50, and a pair of transverse end walls 51 (see FIGS. 3 and 9).

As best seen in FIGS. 4 and 8, side walls 50 have four aligned slots 52 in their upper margins to receive shafts 53 of inking rollers 54 of the inking roller set 19. Vertical position of the rollers 54 for proper contact with plate P of stamping head S is accomplished by vertical set screws 55 the upper ends of which project into the bottoms of the slots 52, the shaft 53 being held down on the ends of set screws 55 by means of leaf springs 56.

Proper inking contact of rollers 54 with plate P requires that the rollers roll over the surface of the plate, rather than sliding on it, and accordingly it is necessary that the rollers 54 be driven in opposite directions on successive passes of the ink trough 16 beneath the stamping head S.

To accomplish this, as seen in FIGS. 3, 6, 7 and 8 a pair of elongated gear racks 57 are secured to the under sides of overhanging brackets 58 which surmount the side rails 23 and gears which are mounted on the projecting ends of roller shafts 53 are in mesh with the gear racks 57 so that reciprocation of the ink trough 16 causes the rollers 54 to be rotated.

Consideration of the direction of movement of ink trough 16 in its successive passes beneath stamping head S shows that during the pass illustrated in FIGS. to 12, in which the ink trough is passing from left to right as viewed in the drawings, makes it apparent that the rollers 54 on this pass must turn so that the position 54a of the roller surface which is toward the direction of movement of the trough is moving upwardly, or counter clockwise as is viewed in the drawings. Conversely, on a pass from right to left as viewed in the drawings, the part 54h of the roller surface must move upwardly, and on such a return pass the rollers thus must rotate clockwise. The inverted mountings of gear racks 57 produce the desired direction of rotation of the rollers 54 on each pass of the ink through 16.

Finally, it is necessary that the surfaces of the rollers 54 be doctored in both directions of rotation to control ink film thickness on the roller surfaces which contact the printing surface P. Accordingly, doctor blade means, indicated generally at 6! and best seen in FIGS. 4, 7, 8 and 9, is provided to doctor the upwardly moving part of each roller 54 on each pass of the ink trough 16. Due to the opposite directions of rotation of the rollers on successive passes, it is obvious that the doctor blade means 60 must be mounted for shifting movement, so that a doctor blade is in contact with the part 54a of each roller on one pass, and is in contact with the part 54b of each roller on the next pass.

The doctor blade means 60 includes a pair of elongated slide plates 61 each of which hangs on top of a side plate 50 of the trough. Longitudinal slots 61a in each slide plate 61 (FIGS. 4 and 5) receive studs 61b mounted on side plates 50 to hold down the slide plates. Each slide plate has a pair of downwardly facing gear rack segments 62, and pinions 63 engage said rack segments and a pair of shiftable gear racks 64. Gear racks 64 are carried in slide blocks 65 and 66 so as to be movable endwise (longitudinally with respect to the direction of movement of ink trough 16). As best seen in FIG. 9, slide bar 61 supports three doctor blade assemblies 67 which are mounted between adjacent rollers S4, and also supports two separate doctor blades 68 which are adjacent the rollers at the ends of the roller set. As best seen in FIG. 4, each of the doctor blade assemblies 67 includes a transversely extending mounting bracket 69 which is bolted at both ends to slide bar 61 and has oppositely inclined faces 76 which serve as backing surfaces for flexible doctor blades 71a and 7119. Each of the separate doctor blade assemblies 68 is seen in FIG. 9 to be precisely like one half of an assembly 67, and includes a mounting bracket 72 having a single inclined face 73 which serves as a backing surface for a doctor blade 71a or 71b which is identical with the corresponding blades 71a and 71b of the assembly 67.

FIGS. 6, 8 and 9 illustrate the position of the doctor blade means 60 when the ink trough 16 is ready to start a pass from left to right as illustrated in FIGS. 10 to 12; and in this position the first group of doctor blades 71a are in scraping contact with the parts 54a of the roller surfaces. Shifting the doctor blade assembly 60 to the right as viewed in FIG. 9 places the group of doctor blades 71b into scraping contact with the parts 541) of the surfaces of the rollers 54. It is apparent that movement of shiftable gear rack 64 to the left as viewed in FIG. 8 will act through the pinion 63 and gear rack segments 62 to impart the necessary motion of the slide bar 61 to the right.

To accomplish the necessary shift of gear rack 64 at the end of each pass of ink trough 16, the station S1 is provided with a set of threaded stop blocks 74 to receive threaded adjustable stops 75 which are in line with the ends of shiftable gear racks 64; and the station S2 is provided with threaded stop blocks 76 which receive adjustable threaded stop screws 77, also aligned with shiftable gear racks 64. Thus, as ink trough 16 reaches the end of each pass the gear racks 64 strike the adjustable stops 7S or 77, as the case may be, and produce the required shift of the doctor blade means.

It is necessary that the slide bars 61 be locked in each of their two positions, and for this purpose the slide bars have notches 7S and 78a positioned, respectively, adjacent the right hand and left hand ends of the slide rails as viewed in FIG. 8. A pair of spring loaded latch members 79 in the form of bell cranks are mounted on a rock shaft 80 which is supported in pivot blocks S1 mounted on the end plate 51 at the right hand end of the ink trough 16, and the latch 79 has a latch tooth 32 which engages with the notch 7S at the right hand end of slide plate 61. Referring particularly to FIGS. 3 and 8, a pair of brackets 83 are secured beneath side rails 23 and extend inwardly to serve as mountings for adjustable latch trip screws 84 which are adjusted to contact the latches 79 and unlatch them immediately before the shiftable gear rack abuts the adjustable stop 75 at station S1, so that the doctor blade slide plate 61 is free to move with the endwise shifting of the gear rack 64.

A pair of spring loaded latches 79a at the left hand end of the ink trough 16 are mounted on a rock shaft 80a which is supported on pivot blocks 81a on the end plate 51 at the left hand end of the trough. As seen in FIG. 3, the latches 79a `are in a different longitudinal plane from the latches 79, the station S-Z includes brackets 85 in which are mounted adjustable latch trips 86 which are aligned with the latch arms 79a at the lleft hand end of ink trough 16. The latch trip screws 86 are adjusted so that they disengage the latches 79a from the latch notches 78a just before shifting gear racks 64 strike the adjustable stops 77 at the sta-tion S-2.

In order to reduce evaporation of solvent from the ink in ink trough `16 the station S-l and the station S-2 are provided with stationary cover plates 87 and 818, respectively. The cover plates are mounted on top of the brackets 58 for the fixed gear racks 57, as seen in FIG. 7, and are designed to barely clear the rollers 54. As both covers are identical, only 87 is described in detail; and it is seen to have au end flange 87a which is substantially in abutment with the end plate 51 of the ink trough 16 when the trough is in the station; and as seen in FIG. 7, the cover has side ange 87b which barely clear the tops of slide plates 61.

It is apparent from the foregoing detailed description that the present invention provides a very effective and mechanically simple reciprocating inking apparatus for a flat bed press having a vertically reciprocating stamping head. The extreme mechanical simplicity of the mechanism assures very few maintenance problems, and Very positive operation. All necessary adjustments are very easily made, and the mechanism permits relatively high speed operation because it inks the printing plate on the stamping head on each pass of the ink trough in either direction.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitaions are to be understood therefrom, as some modifications `will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

il. In a ilat bed printing press having a vertically reciprocable stamping head that has a printing surface on its lower end, inking apparatus comprising: a horizontal base; an ink trough movable on said base, said trough having a peripheral wall the entire upper margin of which is in one plane and having an open top; an inking roller in said trough; means for reciprocating said trough on said base between rst and second stations which flank the path of vertical reciprocation of the stamping head so the trough passes in opposite directions beneath the st-amping head and moves said roller across the printing surface thereof on each pass; means for rotating lsaid roller in opposite directions so that it rolls over the printing surface on each pass; doctor blade means on the trough to control ink film thickness on the roller surface contacting the printing surface; and a closure at each station beneath which the trough is positioned at the station with the upper l margin of its peripheral wall substantially in contact with said closure.

2. rI'he apparatus of claim 1 in which each closure has an end flange and side anges extending downwardly in register with the Wall of `the trough when the trough is at the station.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which e-ach closure is i fixed.

4. In a liat bed prin-ting press having a vertically reciprocable stampinghead that has a printing surface on its lower end, inking apparatus comprising: a horizontal base; a fixed gear rack on said base; an ink trough movable on said base parallel to said fixed rack, said trough having an open upper margin; a set of coplanar `inking rollers in said/trough, each roller having a gear meshing with said fixed rack; means for reciprocating said trough on said base between first and second stations which flank the path of vertical reciprocation of said stamping lhead so the trough passes in opposite directions beneath the stamping head and said rollers roll across the printing surface of the stamping head von each pass; a shiftable slider mounted on the trough and occupying a first position during a pass of the trough in one direction and occupying a second position during a pass in the opposite direction, doctor blade means mounted ou said slider including a first group of blades which contact the upwardly moving parts of all the roller surfaces in said first position and yare spaced from the rollers in the second position, and a second group of blades which contact the upwardly moving parts of all the roller surfaces in lthe second position and are spaced from the rollers -in the iirst position; and means for shifting said slider from one of said positions to the other as the trough reaches the end of each pass.

5. IPhe apparatus of claim 4 in which the means for shifting the slider includes a stop at each station, a movable gear rack mounted on the trough for endwise movement upon abutment with one ofsaid stops as the trough reaches ythe end of a pass in either direction, a gear rack segment on the carriage, :and a pinion engaging said movable gear rack and said gear rack segment.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 which includes means for latching the slider in each of the two positions, and means for releasing said latching means as the trough reaches the end of each pass.

7. The apparatus of claim 4 in which the means for reciprocating the trough includes a reversing motor having a motor shaft, a sprocket on said shaft, and rol-1er chain `means trained over the sprocket and including a chain having an end secured to each end of the trough.

8. In a flat bed printing press having a vertically reciprocable stamping head that 'has a printing surface on its lower end, inking -apparatus comprising: a horizontal base; an ink trough movable on said base and having an open upper margin; an inking roller set in said trou-gh including a plurality of coplanar inking rollers; means for reciprocating said trough on said base between iirst and second stations which flank the path of vertical reciprocation of the stamping head so the trough passes in opposite `directions beneath the stamping head and moves the rollers of said roller set across the printing surface thereof on each pass; means for rotating said rollers in opposite directions so that the part of each roller surface toward the direction of movement of the trough is moving upwardly on each pass of the trough; doctor blade means on the trough comprising a movable doctor Y blades so that a blade bears only on the upwardly moving part of each rol-ler surface on each pass of the trough beneath the stamping head.

9. The lapparatus of claim 8 `in which the ink trough has a peripheral wall the entire upper margin of which is in a single plane, a closure is positioned at each station which is substantially in contact with the upper margin of the ink trough Iwall when the trough is at the station, the doctor blade means is entirely below said upper margin, and the means for shifting the doctor blade assembly and separate doctor blades includes a longitudinaliy shift-able member mounted on the ink trough wall below said upper margin, and means on said wall below said margin operatively connecting said member with each doctor blade Iassembly and separate doctor blade.

l0. The apparatus of claim 8 in which the means for shifting the doctor blade assembly and separate doctor blades includes a member which is longitudinally shiftabile between each of two positions, means operatively connecting said shiftable member with each doctor blade assembly and separate doctor blade, means for latching the member in each of said two positions, and means for releasing said latching means as the trough reaches the end of each pass.

11. The apparatus of ela-im 8 -in which the means for shifting the doctor blade assembly and the separate doctor blades includes a stop at each station, a gear rack slid-ably mounted on the trough and movable endwise between a first position and la second position by abutment with one of said stops at the end of a pass in either direction, and rack Iand pinion means operatively connecting the doctor blade assembly and separate doctor blades with said gear rack.

-12. The `apparatus lof claim 11 which includes means for latching the gear rack in each of its two positions, and means for releasing said latching means as the trough reaches the end of each pass.

'13. The apparatus of claim 8 in which the means for reciprocating the trough includes a reversing motor having a motor shaft, a sprocket on said shaft, and roller chain means trained over the sprocket iand including a chain having lan end secured to each end of the trough.

114. 'In -a flat bed printing press having -a vertically reciprocable stamping head that has a printing surface on its lower end, inking apparatus comprising: a horizontal base; an ink trough movable on said base and having an open upper margin; an inking roller in said trough; means for reciprocating said trough on said base between first and second stations which flank the path of vertical reciprocation of the stamping head so the trough passes in opposite directions beneath the stamping head and moves said roller across the printing surface thereof on each pass; means for rotating said roller in opposite directions so that the part of the roller surface toward the direction of movement of the trough is moving upwardly on each pass of the trough; doctor blade means on the trough which includes two blades anking the roller, one of said blades bearing on the upwardly moving part of the roller surface on each pass of the trough, and each of said blades being spaced from the roller when that part of the roller surface adjacent the blade is moving downwardly; a member which is longitudinally shiftable between each of two positions; means operatively connecting said shiftable member to said doctor blades to shift them in and out of operative bearing position with respect to the roller; means for latching said member in each of its two positions; and means for releasing said latching means as the trough reaches the end of each pass.

15. In la at bed printing press having a vertically reciprocable stamping head that has a printing surface on its lower end, inking apparatus comprising: a horizontal base; an ink trough movable on said base and having an open upper margin; an inking roller set in said trough including -a plurality of coplan-ar inking rollers; means for reciprocating said trough on said base between first and second stations which ank the path of vertical reciprocation of the stamping head so the trough passes in opposite directions beneath the stamping head and moves the rollers of said roller set across the printing surface thereof on each pass; means for rotating said rollers in opposite directions so that the part of each roller surface toward the direction of movement of the trough is moving upwardly on each pass of the trough; a slider which is horizontally shiftable on the ink trough normal to the axes of the inking rollers; two groups of doctor blades so supported on said slider that shifting of the latter to a first position causes a rst group of said doctor blades to contact the upwardly moving parts of all the roller surfaces during a pass of the trough in one direction while a second group adjacent the downwardly moving parts of the surfaces is spaced from the rollers,

while shifting the slider to a second position causes said second group of said blades to contact the rollers during la pass in the opposite direction and moves said first group of blades out of contact with the rollers; and means for shifting said sliders ras the trough reaches the end of each pass.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 which includes means for latching the slider in each of its two positions, and means for releasing said latching means as the trough reaches the end of each pass.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 in which the means for shifting the doctor blade slider includes a longitudinally movable gear rack on the trough, a pinion engaging said gear rack, a gear segment on the carriage which engages the pinion, and means for moving the gear rack endwise.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 368,751 Burnside Aug. 23, 1887 477,205 Farmer lune 21, 1892 1,138,711 Woodward M-ay 11, 1915 1,489,805 Wilden Apr. 8, 1924 1,814,160 Humphreys July 14, 1931 1,997,652 Pesci Apr. 16, 1935 3,000,300 Ortleb Sept. 19, 1961 

1. IN A FLAT BED PRINTING PRESS HAVING A VERTICALLY RECIPROCABLE STAMPING HEAD THAT HAS A PRINTING SURFACE ON ITS LOWER END, INKING APPARATUS COMPRISING: A HORIZONTAL BASE; AN INK TROUGH MOVABLE ON SAID BASE, SAID TROUGH HAVING A PERIPHERAL WALL THE ENTIRE UPPER MARGIN OF WHICH IS IN ONE PLANE AND HAVING AN OPEN TOP; AN INKING ROLLER IN SAID TROUGH; MEANS FOR RECIPROCATING SAID TROUGH ON SAID BASE BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND STATIONS WHICH FLANK THE PATH OF VERTICAL RECIPROCATION OF THE STAMPING HEAD SO THE TROUGH PASSES IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS BENEATH THE STAMPING HEAD AND MOVES SAID ROLLER ACROSS THE PRINTING SURFACE THEREOF ON EACH PASS; MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ROLLER IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS SO THAT IT ROLLS OVER THE PRINTING SURFACE ON EACH PASS; DOCTOR BLADE MEANS ON THE TROUGH TO CONTROL INK FILM THICKNESS ON THE ROLLER SURFACE CONTACTING THE PRINTING SURFACE; AND A CLOSURE AT EACH STATION BENEATH WHICH THE TROUGH IS POSITIONED AT THE STATION WITH THE UPPER MARGIN OF ITS PERIPHERAL WALL SUBSTANTIALLY IN CONTACT WITH SAID CLOSURE. 